Watching TV Online Often Exposes Slow Bandwidth

In much of America, the availability of online video is often frustrated by slow broadband speeds. In this 2011 photo, Valerie Houde waits for a dial-up Internet connection in East Burke, Vt.

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Originally published on October 25, 2012 11:20 am

There are more ways than ever to watch TV programs on the Internet, from Netflix and Amazon to Hulu. But many viewers discover that watching TV on the Web can be frustrating. Their favorite show might suddenly stop, stutter and be replaced by a note that reads "buffering." The problem is lack of bandwidth: The data that is the video just can't squeeze through the wires and onto the screen.

"This is our demo space where people get a chance to experience Google Fiber," says Carlos Casas, who leads Google's team in Kansas City, Mo. The company is in the process of wiring the entire city with low-cost 1-gigabit broadband. That's about 100 times faster than what most Americans can get now.

"It's not yet installed in homes, and so we wanted to have a space where people could come and just see what the technology looks like," Casas says.

The Kansas City space connects all kinds of TVs, tablets and computers to Google's fast fiber network.

To duplicate an experience you might have at home, reporter Suzanne Hogan of Kansas City member station KCUR and I tried an experiment.

I used NPR's connection in Washington, D.C., to watch an HD nature video while downloading an 8-gigabyte video game that I wanted to play later. Hogan, joined by Casas and another Google team member, Tom Fitzgerald, did the same thing.

The video begins playing in Washington, but the game doesn't t start to download.

From Kansas City, Hogan reports, "The video is playing in the background. ... We haven't had any delay with that ... and we're currently how far along on the game?"

Fitzgerald answers, "33 percent downloaded."

In D.C., my 10-minute nature movie freezes. Meanwhile, back in Kansas City, Hogan tells me, "We've only got about two minutes left of this movie."

"I can start and play a whole other movie if you want," Fitzgerald offers.

Over the course of 10 minutes, Kansas City downloaded the 8-gigabyte game and watched two HD videos. In that same time, my video froze, and I downloaded 3.3 percent of the game. Fail.

Things are so much better in Kansas City because Google is streaming video and information directly through its high-capacity fiber network. Casas says the company hopes the Kansas City experiment will inspire broadband providers to deploy similar networks around the country.

"We saw it when we went from dial-up to broadband. People didn't think of the things we'd be able to do, and all of a sudden we have video conferencing, we have social media," he says. "So now we're very excited about the possibilities that fiber will bring."

Faster Internet speeds will not only make it possible to watch HD video while downloading a game. Blair Levin, a telecommunications specialist at the Aspen Institute, says he also imagines video chatting with friends while they're all watching the same game on TV.

"Wouldn't it be great if you could watch the college football game with all your buddies from college," he says, "and have something resembling the experience you had when you were in college, in terms of presence of each other."

Unfortunately, Levin says, there isn't much incentive right now for broadband providers like Comcast or Verizon to upgrade their networks. Cable can already provide faster broadband service than the telephone companies, and it would simply cost the telcos too much to catch up.

"In the middle of the last decade, the telcos were saying, 'We're going to provide better networks than cable,' " Levin says. "Now what they're simply saying is, 'We like the networks, we're not going to invest to be better networks — but we're going to try other ways in which we improve the value proposition.' "

Those values include things like bundling phone, Internet and TV to lure consumers away from cable. For their part, TV programmers are not all that interested in making it easier for fans to watch via the Internet.

"The programmers are making tens of billions of dollars by selling that programming in big bundles to cable distributors," says Susan Crawford, a former tech adviser to the Obama administration. "And they have no incentive to break up those bundles and make those individual channels available online. They'd make much, much less money."

For its part, Verizon did spend more than $20 billion building out its Fios fiber network to more than 17 million customers. But then it stopped. The company's Bob Elek says nobody seems to be using all that bandwidth.

"The market demand isn't really there," he says, "both from a consumer perspective and from the applications and the things that people are providing to be used on the network. It just isn't there yet."

A project like the one Google is setting up in Kansas City may open some eyes to what life could be like if we had faster networks. That might lead to more demand, and maybe an end to your buffering ... I mean, suffering.

There are more ways than ever to watch TV programs on the Internet: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu. But as many people are discovering, watching TV over the Web can be frustrating.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

You might have been experiencing something like this: You're in the middle of watching your favorite show, and all of the sudden it stops and stu-stutters. It's doing something called buffering, and it happens because all the digital information that's in that TV show just can't squeeze through the wires into your home.

MONTAGNE: And that's because those wires are, in a way, not big enough. They don't have enough bandwidth to carry all that information. As part of our series How We Watch What We Watch, NPR's Laura Sydell looks at why we don't have more bandwidth.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE: There is a place where some people can go and they'll never have to worry about bandwidth.

CARLOS CASAS: Welcome to the Fiber Space. This is our demo space, where people get a chance to experience Google Fiber.

SYDELL: Carlos Casas leads the team in Google's Kansas City, Missouri field office. The company's in the middle of a project to wire up the entire city with low-cost, one-gigabit broadband. That's about 100 times faster than what most Americans can get now.

CASAS: It's not yet installed in homes, and so we wanted to have a space where people could come and just see what the technology looks like, see things that are going to go into their home.

SYDELL: The Kansas City space connects all kinds of TVs, tablets and computers to Google's fast fiber network. I couldn't get to the space, so I asked Suzanne Hogan to pay a visit. She's a reporter with member station KCUR, and we tried an experiment to duplicate an experience you might have at home. I used NPR's connection in D.C. to watch an HD nature video...

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SYDELL: ...while downloading an eight-gigabyte video game that I wanted to play later. Hogan, joined by Casas and another Google team member, Tom Fitzgerald, did the same thing.

SUZANNE HOGAN, BYLINE: Do you guys see the Mother Nature video on your screen?

SYDELL: We see the Mother Nature video. It is moving.

HOGAN: What scene are you on? What's not - is the game downloading?

SYDELL: The game is not downloading. We're watching the video, and the game has not started downloading. And you?

HOGAN: The video is playing in the background, and I'm seeing clouds and smoke - we haven't had any delay with that. And we are currently how far along on the game?

SYDELL: Thanks for leaving me behind. What do you think would be a good one to watch?

FITZGERALD: Let's see. Have we seen the virtual trip in Tahiti yet?

HOGAN: That's great.

SYDELL: I so hate you right now.

Over the course of 10 minutes, Kansas City downloaded the eight-gig game and watched two HD videos. Meanwhile, we're at 3.3 percent on the game.

HOGAN: We are 99 percent. It looks like it's...

FITZGERALD: Now, it's, again, just waiting on the install.

SYDELL: Things are so much better in Kansas City because Google is streaming video and information directly through its high-capacity fiber network. Google's Carlos Casas says the company hopes the Kansas City experiment will inspire broadband providers to deploy similar networks around the country.

CASAS: We saw it when we went from dial-up to broadband. People didn't think of the things they would be able to do, and all of a sudden, we have video conferencing. We have social media. So now we're very excited about the possibilities that fiber will bring. It will allow you to do the things you were doing anyway, but we're hoping that it'll open doors to many other things, as well.

SYDELL: Faster Internet speeds will not only make it possible to watch HD video while downloading a game. Blair Levin, a telecommunications specialist at the Aspen Institute, says he also imagines video chatting with friends while they're all watching the same game on TV.

BLAIR LEVIN: Wouldn't it be great if you could watch the college football game with all your buddies from college and have something resembling the experience you had when you were in college, in terms of presence of each other?

SYDELL: Unfortunately, Levin says, there isn't much incentive right now for broadband providers like Comcast or Verizon to upgrade their networks. Cable can already provide faster broadband service than the telephone companies, or telcos, and it would simply cost the telcos too much to catch up.

LEVIN: In the middle of the last decade, the telcos were saying we're going to provide better networks than cable. Now what they're simply saying is we like the networks we have. We're not going to invest to be better networks, but we're going to try other ways in which we improve the value proposition.

SYDELL: Like bundling phone, Internet and TV to lure consumers away from cable. For their part, TV programmers are not all that interested in making it easier for fans to watch over the Internet. Susan Crawford is a former tech adviser to the Obama administration.

SUSAN CRAWFORD: The programmers are making tens of billions of dollars by selling that programming in big bundles to cable distributors. And they have no incentive to break up those bundles and make those individual channels available online. They'd make much, much less money.

SYDELL: For its part, Verizon did spend more than $20 billion building out its FiOS fiber network to more than 17 million customers. But it stopped. The company's Bob Elek says nobody seems to be using all that bandwidth.

BOB ELEK: The market demand isn't really there, both from a consumer perspective and from the applications and the things that people are providing to be used on the network. It just isn't there yet.

SYDELL: But a project like the one Google is setting up in Kansas City may open some eyes to what life could be like if we had faster networks. That might lead to more demand, and maybe an end to your buffering - I mean, suffering. Laura Sydell, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.